Hálfr Innkv 5^VIII (Hálf 23)

Gefa mun ek hverjum         hjálm ok brynju
frækna drengja,         er fylgja mér.
Þat mun at líta,         sem logi brenni
skjöldungs liði         um skarar fjöllum.

Ek mun gefa hverjum frækna drengja, er fylgja mér, hjálm ok brynju. Þat mun at líta, sem logi brenni um {fjöllum skarar} liði skjöldungs.

I shall give to each of the brave warriors who follow me a helmet and a byrnie. That will look as if a flame were burning around {the mountains of hair} [HEADS] of the prince’s host.

Mss: 2845(36r) (Hálf)

Readings: [2] hjálm: ‘hiaml’ 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 260, Skj BII, 280, Skald II, 146-7, FF §25; Hálf 1864, 18-19, Hálf 1909, 103, FSGJ 2, 111, Hálf 1981, 118, 181; Edd. Min. 34­.

Context: This stanza is introduced by the words: kóngr kvað ‘the king said’.

Notes: [All]: See Hálf 21, Note to [All]. — [2] hjálm ok brynju ‘a helmet and a byrnie’: Bugge (Hálf 1864) emends the line to hjálm gullroðinn ‘gold-covered helmet’ because to his mind ok brynju is not consistent with the content of the second helmingr. — [3] frækna (gen. pl.) ‘brave’: The reading of the ms. Hálf 1909, FSGJ and Edd. Min. correct to fræknra, Skj B, Skald and Hálf 1981 retain frækna. Both forms are possible; cf. ANG §427.2. — [8] um fjöllum skarar ‘around the mountains of hair [HEADS]’: The ms. reads of (prep.) ‘around’ rather than um, but has been normalised to a 1250-1300 standard. The kenning fjall skarar ‘mountain of hair’ for ‘head’ is also used in ESk Frag 2/4^III; háfiall scarar ‘high mountain of hair’ for ‘head’ occurs in Hym 23/6 (NK 92).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
5. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
8. FF = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1922. Fornjermansk forskning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 18:1. Lund: Gleerup.
9. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
10. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
11. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
12. Internal references
13. Not published: do not cite ()
14. Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 21 (Hálfr Hjǫrleifsson, Innsteinskviða 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 321.